“Pop music shouldn’t always get a bad rap,” says Top Pops!, a recurring selection of pop music highlights across a selection of styles. Emil & Friends return with their signature indie electro sound and Spain’s Cocolixe groove.

Emil & Friends

Emil & Friends’ last two releases, 2011’s Lo & Behold and 2010’s Downed Economy EP, have been reliable releases year after year. This year’s short five-track EP (with two tracks and three remixes) does not pack quite the same punch, but the track below, “Internal Affairs” is veritably Emil & Friends, in the best of groovy and swaggery ways. You can also hear a minimix of the rest of the release on Kitsune’s Website. It features “Internal Affairs” along with another original track, “Royal Oats”, and three remixes of “Royal Oats” by Dubka, Radial, and DVNO.

Cocolixe

Spain’s Cocolixe now have a second EP entitled Doméstico, out now on the Boston netlabel No-Source. The four tracks of playful electropop contain everything from Prince-like funkiness to old film score homages — but whether or not you’ll jive with the EP basically boils down to whether or not you can get into the lethargic vocal stylings. Those who approve will find below them some bonafied grooves, with the repetitive and guitar-driven “Mai” being the major highlight.

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Written by

Vivian Hua (華婷婷) wears a lot of random hats, but has somewhat mastered globetrotting like a hobo and evading traditional 9-to-5 work schedules. She enjoys observing human idiosyncrasies perhaps more than anything and is a magnet for homeless people (a joy) and bug bites of all types (absolutely terrible). Through her work, she hopes to embrace the temporary while documenting the nostalgic, using divination and dream symbolism as guides through the cosmic maze. Additional writing, art, video, and other crap, like her astrological chart, can be seen at www.inallthings-patterns.net. She is the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE magazine, and quite appreciates unsolicited personal e-mails just to shoot the shit and narrow the gaps between human beings.